Crawfordsville, Ind. - Host Wabash scored on four of its first five offensive possessions in the opening half and retained possession of the Monon Bell with a 27-3 win over DePauw.

The Tigers finished the season with a 7-3 record and in third place in the North Coast Athletic Conference with a 6-3 league mark, while the 17th-ranked Little Giants improved to 9-1 overall and 8-1 in NCAC play.

Wabash took its opening drive to the DePauw 44, but three straight incomplete passes forced the Little Giants to punt and Derek Fox landed it at the Tigers' 15.

DePauw punted it back after a three-and-out, but Justin Woods returned Paul Simon's punt 17 yards to the DePauw 37. Wabash picked up a pair of first downs before the DePauw defense held and Andrew Tutsie came on to boot a 31-yard field goal with 9:43 left to make it 3-0.

The Tigers converted a third-and-14 with quarterback Matt Hunt running for 15. Amen Galley added eight on the next play, but DePauw was again forced to punt. Starting at their own 11, the Little Giants brought in Connor Rice to direct the offense. The Little Giants advanced into DePauw territory after Rice connected with Houston Hodges for a 46-yard gain on the fourth play.

Rice teamed with Drake Christen for a 9-yard score on a third-down play that gave the Little Giants a 10-0 lead with 2:17 left in the quarter.

On the ensuing possession, Hunt picked up five on a first-down run and then found tight end Jay D. Robinson open over the middle and Robinson appeared to be headed for a score before he fell down at the Wabash 5 for a 74-yard gain.

A pair of Jack Gruber runs each lost one yard and Hunt's third-down pass to Robinson in the back of the end zone fell incomplete. Marko Adams came on and nailed a 24-yard field goal just nine seconds into the second quarter.

Wabash then extended the lead to 17-3 after driving 75 yards in 11 plays with Mason Zurek scoring on a 3-yard run.

The Little Giants' defensive pressure on DePauw's next series forced Hunt into losses on three straight plays back to the Tigers' 13. A short punt gave Wabash a short field again as they started at the DePauw 42.

DePauw's defense limited the damage and held Wabash to a 19-yard field goal from Tutsie with 2:37 left in the half.

The Tigers drove to the Wabash 30 on their final series of the half, but Adams was short on a 48-yard field goal attempt.

Wabash controlled the ball for most of the third quarter, but DePauw's Clark Costello blocked Tutsie's 36-yard field goal try and Tutsie missed from 44 after the Little Giants covered 62 yards in 16 plays over a span of 7:37.

The game's final points came when Connor Ludwig blocked a Simon punt and recovered it in the end zone with 9:30 left in the contest.

DePauw's offense totaled just 151 yards and six first downs, while gaining only 40 rushing yards. Wabash totaled 397 yards, but just 134 on the ground after averaging over 256 per game. Galley paced DePauw with 52 yards on 12 carries, while Holmes had 76 in 24 attempts for the Little Giants and Zurek added 49.

Hunt completed 6-15 passes for 111 yards, while Michael Putko was 20-31 for 183 yards and Rice completed 6-8 for 80 yards and a score. Jake Hagan caught three passes for 27 yards for DePauw, while Christen had 13 grabs for 103 yards and Sammy Adams added six for 56.

Will Longthorne led the DePauw defense with 14 tackles with Thomas Gray and Garrett Rice each chipping in 12. Costello and Peter Nelson shared a sack.

Cody Buresh, Austin Brown and Ethan Buresh each totaled seven tackles in the win. Cody Buresh also added three of Wabash's five sacks and totaled 4.5 tackles for losses of 26 yards and forced a fumble. The Little Giants totaled 10 tackles for losses of 51 yards.

MONON BELL DVD: Orders for the official 2014 Monon Bell Game DVD are being taken here.